Best Ice in U.S.?

I'm fairly new to Ice so I don't know where all the sweet spots near by are yet. Cody WY, RMNP, Ouray area, and a couple other areas in CO are about the extent of my Ice knowledge.

Any Ideas of where I should take my next trip?

Hyalite Canyon is great, but I've read a 4x4 is pretty much mandatory for access.

Anything off the Icefields Parkway up in BC is world class.

The North East has some of the stoutest ice in the country... Lake Willoughby, with a handful of routes excluded, is pretty much WI5 and above. Parc des Grand Jardins and Mont Saint Pierre are both in Quebec and amazing as well.

Or just go to Norway and put up FA's all day long.

New Hampshire. North Conway. It is awesome water ice.

Well it depends on where it's forming. Ice in Vail is awesome WHEN and IF it forms..same thing with the RMNP etc. No one can "really" advise you of a trip until we have an idea if the ice is going to form.

You can pretty much guarentee that there will at least be ice in Ouray, but how long will the season be.

Kurt, the ice in RMNP for the most part SUCKS. There are a handful of good ice routes there but for the most part they get a lot of traffic, they get hacked out fast and for the most part are unpredictable at best. Cody would get my vote because the routes are hard and remote. Ouray has a lot of ice and the ice park is great for mileage, but the quantity of climbers and posers can be rediculous. If you are going to travel for ice, head to Canada. Probably the best ice in the world.

Willoughby can compete with anything. Simply outstanding. I love Cody though, but I love Wyoming so that probably figures in.

Hands down CODY..........

Ouray is crowded and hacked out

RMNP is freakin cold, and hacked out.......

Vail is crowded and hacked out.......

There's more ice in the roadcuts in New Hampshire or Vermont than any state out west.

Daks, North Conway, Willoughby, Smugglers, etc.

Just browse a few guidebooks and see how stacked it is in the Northeast.

My todo list just got flooded. Willoughby looks incredible. I think Cody might be a good place to start because it is close, then maybe BC. I was in Banff area a couple months ago and it looked awesome too. Is there a lot to do in Hyalite? What I found looks really cool, but I didn't see any route lists or anything on the Proj. If you know where it is could you send me a link?

Thanks for the help. I wish I had a few more lifetimes to do all that was listed.

Doug Shepherd wrote:Pick up the Winter Dance guidebook. The listings for Cody/Hyalite on mountainproject are extremely incomplete. Hell, even the guidebook is out of date at this point, but has so many routes you'll be amazed. I will give Ouray props as a great place to get a lot of climbing down (especially mixed) in a relaxed atmosphere. A great way to get mileage.

Handsome B. Wonderful wrote:Kurt, the ice in RMNP for the most part SUCKS. There are a handful of good ice routes there but for the most part they get a lot of traffic, they get hacked out fast and for the most part are unpredictable at best. Cody would get my vote because the routes are hard and remote. Ouray has a lot of ice and the ice park is great for mileage, but the quantity of climbers and posers can be rediculous. If you are going to travel for ice, head to Canada. Probably the best ice in the world.

Grew up in the San Juans climbing ice in Silverton, Ouray and Lake City. Cody takes the cake. Heading to Canada someday soon.....

Like they say, Cody/Southfork. Great climbing, as close
to Ouray if you're in the Front Range, and in a wilderness
setting. Real adventure!!!

Haven't been to Hyalite or the NE yet (soon!). *Very* keen on Cody and Alberta/BC, but honestly, in a good year, I think the San Juans are pretty darned good: Bridalveil, Ingraham Falls, Ames Ice Hose, Dexter Ck, Skyrocket, Skylight climbs, Gravity's Rainbow, Over the Rainbow, Blue Condition, Kennedy's, Horsetail Falls, Bear Ck Falls, the S. Mineral Climbs, Eureka (Whorehouse, Stairway, Highway to Hell, Hoser's, Goldrush), Sherman Climb, Cascade and Cuba gulches, plus a bunch of other stuff including the Ice Park for "off" days. Granted it's not the incredible concentration of multi-pitch and uber-classic single-pitch climbs that you'll find in Cody or in Canada, but dang, that's a lot of great climbs!

Black canyon. The views are spectacular.

Best ice in the continental US?

Cody is good, Hyalite is fun, Ouray is neat, Silveton is Badass, never been to the rocky mtns, but I'm pretty sure that John Denver was full of shit. If you are staying out West Cooke City is sick! and East Rosebud is right around the corner.

Lake Willoughby VT is the best hands down steep ice you'll find. But like Colorado is pretty crowded.

Canada is Mecca. If you haven't been, GO! It's the show. Whatever your grade the Canadian rockies have it in spades.

For me it is Alaska though. We have Norway style ice in my neck of the woods and in the alpine it endless and HUGE!

Is mid spring still good for most of Canada? When does Cody and Willoughby come in?

Good ice is where you find it. Kintnerville Pa works.

GR Johnson wrote:If you are staying out West Cooke City is sick! and East Rosebud is right around the corner.

haha. yeah I suppose my around the corner is a bit different from most. Living in a town with no roads in or out a 1000 miles is nothing. It's close, and there are some cute waitresses at the restraunt there in Roscoe outside east rosebud.

Kurt,

So here is what you should do. Go to the ice festivals. The festivals are like trying a samplier plate in a restaurant. Bozeman ice festival is December 10-12. In my opinion it is the one which is the most fun. Not crowded and the clinics are informative and useful. You'll improve your skills, meet climbers who have traveled a lot and can share their experience with you and it's inexpensive to attend. You can try new gear d see what you like before you sped your life savings.

Afterwards go to Ouray. The festival there is very crowded so maybe go before the festival (Jan. 6-10) and check out the ice. You can get in lots of mileage on a Top Rope and decide if you like the place. All of this will give you mileage and develop your fitness for the climbing in Cody. Cody is not so much about just climbing ice. As has been said, it's more of an adventure. Fitness and skill play a large part in succeeding on many of these routes. Kind of like a wilderness experience. You have 2-3 hour approaches across fields where there are herds of goats and sheep. It's not always obvious where the drainage you want is. The climbs can be 7 pitches long or more and there is a lot of effort into getting up and out before dark. A real good introduction to Canadian style climbs.
The ice in the NE can be really great. The time I was there I had ten days where every day we did one classic after another. The approaches were short, the climbs anything from 3-6 pitches in length. Conditions in the NE are just more fickle that's all. Less reliable.

Colorado has the most reliable ice. Cody holds the most adventure for your buck. Bozeman is probably the most fun and has many "interesting" climbs. Canada is huge with the greatest numer of mixed and ice climbs. North Conway has a lot of variety, history and short approaches. Utah has some great climbing but conditions can change quickly and quietly. And then after all this, there is Alaska.